Saturday, July 03, 2010

Old Papers - Blog Post # 10,086 at Mark Rauterkus and Running Mates

I've got a lot of old papers and records in our house and throughout the office spaces. Too many.

Today I spent some hours weeding a box in storage that has been gathering dust and a tad of mold from the year 2000. Sure, its contents graced my desk about 10 years ago, but it also marked a key time in my political life. That is when I went out on a limb. That year I gathered steam and ran for mayor of the City of Pittsburgh. The election was in the spring of 2001, but I was a candidate in August 2000.

I was so mad at what Tom Murphy and the others in City Hall were doing -- I said, "I'll run. I can do better. Our city needs to do better."

Much of what is in this box did not get into this blog. Sure, a good deal got onto the internet then -- as I was blogging before the word and utilities call blogs came into our shared awareness. But, those archives are not easy to find as web sites have come and gone.

So, it is time to re-type and re-position.

The fight against Fifth and Forbes with the URA has interesting twists with me then as I mentioned the saving of the Civic Arena in some emails and postings. Here we are 10 years later, not 2000 but 2010, and the fate of the Civic Arena is unsure.

Back then I talked about and networked with others about Hazelwood too. Nothing much has changed there, except a few fires and some other homes have been made level.

Then there was Pitt Stadium and UPMC's expansion into the South Side with the proposed building of the UPMC Sports Performace Center. Back then I said that we should have some community access to those facilities. Never really came. The Brashear Association failed us all greatly then -- and still do in this regard. And, I pushed UPMC to build the football practice fields behind UPMC South Side Hospital, not along the river in a place better devoted to flex office space and new job creation. I worred then that UPMC Hospital needed to be supported by the sports medicine and football facilities so as to not close in the years to come.

UPMC South Side Hospital is shutting down now. Told ya.

There are other gems here too. Remember Tom Murphy wanted to spend capital funds from the city's budget to tear down steps that run along the slopes of the South Side and around the city in other neighborhoods. Rather than fix the steps, he wanted to spend more to rid the city of those hazards.

Meanwhile, Bruce Kraus talked this week in council to the blue/green folks seeking new legislation about clean air and clean water. He is about being safe, clean and green. The most important thing to you -- to everyone -- so said his heart and soul in a story from another -- is the air you need to breath.

Without the breath, we die. He is thinking about the legacy he'll leave once he is gone. It all hit him 11 years ago.

Well, there are others who crave the air. But, people will die for more. People will fight to their death for their freedom. People will jump the Berlin Wall and run for their life -- and be shot of course -- for freedom. They had plenty of air where they were. The air wasn't different. But, the oppression was.

Yesterday would have been the 72nd birthday of a young man who was killed as he ran from East Germany by a sniper. He was hit and fell as he tried to dash to freedom. Nearly an hour later, after much blood had flowed from his body, he died.

Clean air and clean water are great.

Happy Independence Day!

This is blog post, so reports blogger on the dashboard, 10,086. Thanks for reading. Thanks for the history.